It’s a new year, it’s a new day. Let’s launch a new trend. Let’s breathe energy into our current Native American renaissance. Let’s go Native.The expression ‘to go Native’ has been around for a while, and roughly means (from a non-Indigenous settler perspective) to take on the lifestyle or outlook of the local inhabitants that is different from one’s own.
In the past, to ‘go Native’ has had some very negative connotations: according to dictionaries, it has meant “to adopt the lifestyle of the local population, especially when it appears less civilized” or “to imitate the behavior of a surrounding culture, especially behavior that seems simple or natural.” (We know this is incorrect; we know our Indigenous cultures are complex, beautiful, full of wisdom and civility). But what if we rethink this concept?